Void
by jazzpha
Summary: The Doctor looks for solace in a place far removed from prying eyes, but finds that his regrets refuse to stop pestering him. An unexpected visitation ensues. SPOILERS for "Asylum of the Daleks".


**Void**

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There was a spot in the middle of nowhere out in the wide vacuum of space, beyond the incredible colors of the Medusa Cascade and far removed from the warm, comforting glow of any supernova's remnants.

On this spot, surrounded by little more than a smattering of stars and one particularly sad-looking asteroid, there was a bench.

It wasn't a typical bench, though. It had been created in fires hotter than any human could withstand, forged from metals with names no human tongue could possibly pronounce. It was a place of solitude and solace; a retreat for the loneliest being in the universe. It was surrounded by a smooth, large disk of rock, a welcoming mat for visitors who would never arrive.

And it was on this bench that the Doctor sat, staring out at the surrounding blackness of space and keeping his eyes peeled for a shooting star. His TARDIS idled faithfully alongside, making sure the vacuum didn't suffocate her partner.

Silence reigned, and the last of the Time Lords felt something vaguely like the peace he knew he would never feel again.

The Doctor reflexively adjusted his bowtie and sighed, finding his mind wandering back to Oswin. He'd fought so hard to rid the galaxy of the Daleks… he'd lost so much, and sacrificed even more… but he still hadn't been able to save a brilliant young woman from a fate far, far worse than death. The sound of her tears still cut through The Doctor's dreams from time to time, and it came to him again now. No doubt the first time a Dalek had ever cried, and probably the last.

Tears she had only shed because he'd forced her to confront the awful truth of her existence. Once again, a life he'd touched had rotted away into little more than ash. The Doctor was sure there was a lesson in that somewhere, but it was one it seemed he would never learn.

The sudden sound of an object materializing sharply and unexpectedly in the space-time fabric nearby jolted The Doctor out of his thoughts, and he turned to see what had bothered to come all the way out here.

When he saw what it was, The Doctor turned back around to face the inky blackness without a word. His visitor sat down next to him a few moments later, and still The Doctor held his tongue.

"Oh, don't be like that," the newcomer chided him, his voice as menacingly upbeat as always. "I came all the way out here to see you, and you can't even be bothered to say 'Hello.'" He chuckled disdainfully. "Typical."

The Doctor's head remained still, staring ever forward.

"How did you get that?"

The visitor smiled.

"He speaks! You had me worried for a second there, Doctor."

"No, I didn't," the Time Lord replied stonily, and the other man's smile widened.

"You got me," he confessed, before joining his companion in looking out at the darkness. "I stole it, if you must know," he explained. "Funny how security tends to go a bit lax when everyone's scrambling just to stay alive. Lifted the keys off someone who didn't need them anymore."

"Well done," The Doctor said, his voice hollow. "Now you're robbing corpses. You must be so proud of yourself."

The other man was quiet for a few heartbeats, before his sharp intake of breath broke the silence.

"You know," he said, "of all the things I hate about you, I think your sanctimony might be at the top of the list. No matter how dirty your hands get, you always seem to think I'm beneath you."

"There's a reason for that."

"Oh, I'm sure there is," the other man shot back. "You always have a reason for everything. What's it going to be the next time you bury a human, I wonder? How many more times are you going to be able to stand it before you crack?"

The Doctor bit his tongue until his anger subsided, leaving a hole in its wake.

"I can't crack," he said at last, calm. "They need me, those humans."

"Whatever you say," the other man replied lightly. "But I think it's the other way around, Doctor."

The man got up, walking along the disk of rock towards his hijacked TARDIS.

"That's what makes you weak."

The Doctor said nothing for a few moments, even as the sound of a door opening reached his ears.

"See you soon, Doctor," the man said with a hint of a smile in his voice, and the Time Lord finally spoke up.

"It's amazing to me," he called out, "how you always manage to walk away. No matter what gets thrown at you, no matter how badly you get scarred, somehow you always come out whole on the other end."

The other man looked back over his shoulder and smiled again.

"That's why they call me The Master."

The renegade Time Lord stepped into his stolen TARDIS, closed the door, and a few seconds later the vehicle had completely vanished.

The Doctor continued to stare out into the void, barely reacting as a shooting star cut a brief, blazing path of light before fading to nothing.

"Yeah," he whispered, half to himself. "See you soon."

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**A/N:** So hey, that's my first attempt ever at some Doctor Who fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it! I also hope I got the characters sounding like themselves, considering.


End file.
